Apparatus for feeding cut tobacco



Feb. 18, 1947. F. F. RUAU 2,416,020

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO Filed July 17, 1942 Patented Feb. 18, 1947 APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO Flix Frdric Ruau, Deptford, London S. E. 8, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company, Limited, Deptford, London, England Application July 17, 1942, Serial No. 451,340 In Great Britain July 22, 1941 3 Claims.

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to apparatus for feeding cut tobacco (for example apparatus for feeding cut tobacco to cigarette making or tobacco packaging machines) of the kind in which a mass of cut tobacco is placed in a hopper or box from which it is removed by a carded conveyor member or carded combing member such as a carded roller or a carded belt (and hereinafter called a combing member) and in which a feeding device is provided to urge the tobacco towards such carded member. Such apparatus is referred to hereinafter as apparatus of the kind described.

Hitherto this feedin device has usually consisted of a smooth or carded roller or in some cases a smooth roller having retractable spikes has been used. The smooth roller when not provided with retractable spikes must have a sufficiently rough surface to enable it to feed the tobacco forwardly, and when so constructed the roller cannot be properly scraped to collect any shorts or other tobacco which has not been taken up by the said carded member. Th same disadvantage is present in the case where the feeding device is a carded roller or belt. Where a roller with retractable spikes is employed, the surface of the roller can be made smooth to enable efiicient cleaning to be obtained, but where the tobacco to be fed is relatively short, the spikes do not provide a totally satisfactory conveying means since they tend to move too readily through the mass of tobacco. An object of the present invention is to provide in apparatus of the kind described, a feeding device which will enable the collection of shorts to be properly effected and also effectively feed the tobacco.

According to the present invention there is provided, apparatus of the kind described, wherein the feeding device comprises a shaking or vibrating conveyor. The conveyor may comprise a plate or support forming the bottom of the hopper and preferably the plate is arranged to slope downwards slightly towards the combing member to which the tobacco is to be fed. The plate of the vibrating conveyor is subjected to vibrating or shaking movements and preferably these movements are of short amplitude while the mechanism operating the conveyor is arranged to give the plate a considerable number of vibrations (about 1,000) per minute.

The invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a sectional elevation of a tobacco feeding apparatus for feeding cut tobacco to a continuous rod cigarette making machine.

Figure 2 shows a modification to the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure l of the drawing, the tobacco is placed in a container l adjacent to the hopper 2 of the tobacco feeding apparatus and an oscillating flap 3 is provided such as is described in prior United States patent specification No. 1,955,012, which flap periodically sweeps tobacco into the hopper and then recedes to permit the surplus tobacco to pass back into the container. If desired, the masses of tobacco in the container and the hopper are kept separate by a vaned rotating member 23 positioned intermediate the container and hopper.

The base of the hopper consists of a plate 4, constituting part of a shaking or vibrating conveyor, which slopes slightly downwardly towards a carded combing member 5 which in the present case consists of a roller. The plate is attached to two support members 6 which project downwardly from the lower surface of the plate. These members may be pivoted levers but are preferably, and as shown, flat springs and the ends of these springs remote from the plate are fixed to support bars I mounted in the hopper frame. The springs are substantiall parallel and their upper ends disposed as shown so that as the conveyor plate is oscillated or vibrated it urges the tobacco forwardly towards the combing roller. Owing to the sloping disposition of the plate and the arrangement of the springs the top surface of the plate moves upwardly on the forward movement of the plate; thereby the mass of tobacco is carried forwardly by the plate against the carding of the combing roller as indicated by the arrows.

Beneath the conveyor plate there is fixed a bearing bracket 3 to which is pivoted one end of a connecting rod 9, the other end of said rod comprising an eccentric strap to which embraces an eccentric i t mounted on a shaft 52 journalled in the hopper frames. The shaft is rotated from the driving mechanism of the tobacco feeding apparatus at such a rate that the plate of the shaking conveyor will be oscillated or vibrated a considerable number of times per minute, for example 1,000 to 1,200 times per minute. The total movement or oscillation of the conveyor plate may be A;'. The drive to the shaft l2 may be by chain or belt, for example, from the picker roller it, as shown in the drawing. Y

Beneath the combing roller there is mounted a shield i3 concentric with the periphery of said roller and which extends through an arc of about One end of said shield is so positioned that the forward edge of the conveyor plate slightly overhangs the shield thus preventing the escape of any tobacco from between the combing roller and the edge of the plate.

As is well known, cut tobacco contains numerous short fragments of leaf, which are included in the trade term shorts. In manipulating and feeding cut tobacco, these shorts tend to fall away from the main tobacco mass and it is important for commercial reasons that they should be incorporated within the finished product of the machine; in this case cigarettes. In thearrangfiment above described the shorts tend to congregate at the place where the conveyor plate is nearest to the periphery of the combing roller and in this way they are removed, by the carding of the combing roller and become fairly evenly mixed with the other tobacco which is later pressed into the carding as above described.

Thus the shorts are withdrawn by the combing then be treated in any desired manner. Y

As shown, by way of example, the tobacco on the combing roller is operated on by a tamping device it, which works in the manner described in United States Patent No. 1,962,036. The tobacco is then brushed by a brushing roller and removed from the combing roller by a picker roller 15 and showered on to a distributor ill from which it is delivered into the trough of the cigarette making machine in any suitable manner. Or the feeding apparatus may be constructed as described in United States Letters Patent 2,325,793, granted August 1'7, 1943, to which reference should be made.

In an alternative construction shown in Figure 2, instead of providing a separate container adjacent the hopper for automatically supplying tobacco to the hopper, the vibrating plate conveyor mentioned above is extended rearwardly at N3, the extended portion being arranged horizontally whilst the portion nearer the combing roller is inclined downwardly as in the previous example. With this arrangement now being described it is possible to reduce the height of the back of the tobacco feeding apparatus and so make it easier for operatives to watch and replenish the hoppers than in a case such as that in the first example where a separate container is provided for automatically feeding tobacco to the hopper.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper in which is placed a mass of cut tobacco, including a proportion of shorts, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly,

and means for urging the mass of tobacco in the hopper, including the shorts, toward and against said combing member, said means comprising a conveyor supported for vibratory movement in a predetermined cycle, said conveyor being displaced in one portion of said cycle upwardly and toward said combing member, and means imparting the said vibratory movement to the conveyor at such high frequency that shorts tend to move downwardly and that the tobacco mass, including the shorts, is forced toward and against said combing member, said vibrating conveyor extending into close proximity to the lower side of the combing roller, whereby a reservoir of shorts collects and is maintained on said conveyor in juxtaposition to said combing roller, from which reservoir the shorts may be withdrawn by the combing roller in substantially uniform quantity regardless of the proportion of shorts in the hopper.

2. In a tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper in which is placed a mass of cut tobacco, including a proportion of shorts, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, and means for urging the mass of tobacco in the hopper, including the shorts, toward said combing member, said means comprising a conveyor plate inclined slightly downward toward the combing roller, said plate being supported for vibratory movement in a predetermined cycle, said plate being displaced in one portion of said cycle upwardly and toward said combing member, and means imparting the said vibratory movement to the plate at such high frequency that shorts tend to move downwardly and that the tobacco mass, including the shorts, is forced toward and against said combing memher, said vibrating plate extending into close proximity to the lower side of the combing roller, whereby a reservoir of shorts collects and is maintained on said plate in juxtaposition to said combing roller, from which reservoir the shorts may be withdrawn by the combing roller in substantially uniform quantity regardless of the proportion of shorts in the hopper.

3. In a tobacco feeding apparatus, the combination with a hopper in which is placed a mass of cut tobacco, including a proportion of shorts, of a combing member receiving tobacco from said hopper and conveying the same upwardly, and means for urging the mass of tobacco in the hopper, including the shorts, toward said combing member,-said means comprising a conveyor plate inclined slightly downward toward the combing roller, said plate being supported for vibratory movement in a predetermined cycle, said plate being displaced in one portion of said cycle upwardly and toward said combin mem her, and means imparting the said vibratory movement to the plate at such high frequency that shorts tend to move downwardly and that the tobacco mass, including the shorts, is forced toward and against said combing member, said vibrating plate extending into close proximity to the lower side of the combing roller, whereby a reservoir of shorts collects and is maintained on said plate in juxtaposition to said combing roller, from which reservoir the shorts may be withdrawn by the combing roller in substantially uniform quantity regardless of the proportion of shorts in the hopper, said plate being provided on that side remote from the combing member with a substantially horizontal extension aifording a support for tobacco constituting a source of supply for said hopper.

FELIX FREDERIC RUAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,230,195 Warren 1 Jan. 28, 1941 1,042,652 de Cazen Oct. 29, 1912 1,955,012 Molins Apr. 17, 1934 2,280,056 Eroekhuysen Apr, 21, 19 12 2,094,697 Flint Oct. 5, 1937 2,166,022 Repper July 11, 19:39 2 239,858 Randolph Apr. 29, 1941 

